I abstracted this hotel bartender down to a silhouette and isolated him against a glowing alcove holding translucent ranks of bottles. A curving ceiling decoration twists overhead, repeating the pulse of the pattern in the bottles in the alcove. Evening revelry is hours away -- the only sound is silence. The somber colors and abstracted design of this image evoke a mood that I hope will produce an emotional response within the viewer. This photograph reminds me of the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). He often depicted isolated figures in bleak scenes from ordinary urban life. This is an image of a place dedicated to pleasure, yet it speaks here only of void.